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Hi my name is Keith Clarke. I am a film producer/writer in Los Angeles... I am in the process of producing a film of Polish escapee prisoners from the Gulags

Message 1 of 2
, Mar 31, 2008

Hi my name is Keith Clarke. I am a film producer/writer in Los
Angeles... I am in the process of producing a film of Polish escapee
prisoners from the Gulags in WW II. We anticipate filming to begin in
October 2008. Our story concerns prisoners who escaped from Siberia
and survived the treacherous journey either through Mongolia,
Khazistan onto either Afghanistan, Persia or thru China to Tibet over
the Himalayas to India. We have official records of Poles who made it
to India from Siberia. There are accounts of Poles going thru Tibet
and over the Himalayas (including the Long Walk which its veracity is
called into questions thru recently discovered records not just from
Russia but also the Hoover and Anders collection). We have read a
hundred plus books and hundreds of accounts of exiles
being "amnestied" plus the amazing collection of information on the
internet the groups such as yours and have been working closely with
the Hoover institute and the Sikorski Museum etc.

Because we are close to filming we are being specific in our research
now:

I am going to Moscow and London in mid April 2008. I would like to
meet and visit with Gulag prisoners; men, woman and children. Anybody
that escaped or was part of the "amnesty" etc. Do you have any names
or suggestions how best for me to accomplish this. Our film is moving
forward and we are doing location scouts in Mongolia and Siberia
before we head to Moscow for more research at Memorial and a few
other archive museums. The interviews will be crucial as we are
rewriting the script after our visits etc If any one has suggestions
of places we should visit, other than those mentioned in the
locations we are going to, or people that we should meet, please feel
free to let me know and contact names and addresses for those places.
For instance when we visit Tomsk, we are going to the former NKVD
headquarters and transit camp. Is there somewhere else in that
vicinity that we should visit? In Perm we are going to a camp that is
now a museum to remind the world that such atrocities should never
happen again. Is there somewhere or someone in Perm we should visit
too?

Gulag system 1940-41 - as experienced in Siberia because of the
extreme weather conditions - great distances covered and death toll
just to arrive at the isolated camps.

We are not seeking records or files. Nor a history lesson of who,
how, why or when the Gulag system was instigated. (We have spent
nearly 2 years researching thru the Hoover, Sikorski, a hundred plus
books and many interviews). We are interested in knowing as best as
possible as observers, the very real torment of camp life and its
long lasting effects on the prisoners.

Film/video footage of the Gulag world - the trains, camps, Irki,
guards, the type of work, slave labor like conditions, food,
clothing, artifacts.

We desire to meet an ex prisoner who could walk us thru a day in a
camp.

We desire to learn about escapees and maybe to meet anyone who
escaped to learn of their experience as they journeyed out of Russia
to their final destination. How did they survive? What were the
physical conditions? Who did they escape with/ How many survived
their trek? .

Photo's of Irki and their tattoos what they represented - the stories
they tell.(Irki or Urki are the criminal prisoners who ruthlessly
kept order and helped run the camps for the NKVD)

From our research we have created the character of a young girl ( 12 -
13 yrs old in 1941 ) Polish etc whose parents might have come to
join the communist dream but were thrown in the gulags; their
daughter had to survive on her own, either in the camps or in the
towns, A girl who might have become a street urchin to survive. We
would like to try and meet a woman who might have had a similar
experience.

This research information: From POV of the Poles, Latvians
Lithuanians etc. 1939-42

Escapees: prior to amnesty and their treks to freedom. How they
escaped. Their ordeal to survive: highs/lows - the deceased and
survivors - the weather/terrain conditions, food, clothing - people
they avoided and the ones who showed compassion. Artifacts that were
important. Constant danger. World was your prison.

Survivors of the Gulag system. Life in a camp for non-politicos -
exiles. Impressions of the Irki- criminal class.

Specific goals: Life in the Gulag system 1940-41 - as experienced in
Siberia because of the extreme weather conditions - great distances
covered and death toll just to arrive at the isolated camps.

Film/video footage of the Gulag world - the trains, camps, Irki,
guards, the type of work, slave labor like conditions, food,
clothing, artifacts.

From our research we have created the character of a young girl ( 12 -
13 yrs old in 1941 ) possibly Polish etc whose parents might have
come to join the communist dream but were thrown in the gulags; their
daughter had to survive on her own, either in the camps or in the
towns, A girl who might have become a street urchin to survive. We
would like to try and meet a woman who might have had a similar
experience.

I am also trying to track down four escapees who made their way from
Siberia to Bombay, India via Afghanistan in March 1942. I got this
info thru Hoover and their Polish Embassy papers from India (1942) :
The Polish men are:

Zdzislaw Piwowarski,

Wladyslaw Wasik,

Roman Maslowski

Roman Michaluk.

I am also interested in finding other stories of Gulag escapees.
Amdrej at the Sikorski mentioned a well known story of two Poles who
escaped from Russia and made their way to India by train.

I look forward to any and all information and/or guidance as to where
I might get the details. Thank you. Keith Clarke

Carol

Aneta Naszynska, who made the A Forgotten Odyssey film with Jagna Wright has been lucky enough to be in contact with a Los Angeles film- maker who wants to

Message 2 of 2
, Mar 31, 2008

Aneta Naszynska, who made the 'A Forgotten Odyssey film with Jagna
Wright has been lucky enough to be in contact with a Los Angeles film-
maker who wants to make a documentry film, similar to AFO, but of
survivors that are not in Poland now. Their plan is this;

If, through our group and others, they can, first collect the stories
of folk's that either escaped or were given 'amnesty',[stories
to 'aneta@...' - marked 'escape' or 'amnesrty'] read and
sort them, then that person will be contacted, with a view to
interviewing/recording the stories for the film.

The reason that this is an urgent message is because the film-makers
from LA will be in London on *19th* April!!!. So, the stories need to
be emailed to Aneta, sorted, submitted to the film-makers, and
arrangements made to either see the people in London or see them at
their homes, if they don't live too far away.

Sorry I don't know much more than that at the moment, just an early
morning phone call from Aneta this morning. Please remembeer - there
would be no AFO or K-S, if it wasn't for Aneta and Jagna!

>
> Hi my name is Keith Clarke. I am a film producer/writer in Los
> Angeles... I am in the process of producing a film of Polish

escapee

> prisoners from the Gulags in WW II. We anticipate filming to begin

in

> October 2008. Our story concerns prisoners who escaped from Siberia
> and survived the treacherous journey either through Mongolia,
> Khazistan onto either Afghanistan, Persia or thru China to Tibet

over

> the Himalayas to India. We have official records of Poles who made

it

> to India from Siberia. There are accounts of Poles going thru Tibet
> and over the Himalayas (including the Long Walk which its veracity

is

> called into questions thru recently discovered records not just

from

> Russia but also the Hoover and Anders collection). We have read a
> hundred plus books and hundreds of accounts of exiles
> being "amnestied" plus the amazing collection of information on the
> internet the groups such as yours and have been working closely

with

> the Hoover institute and the Sikorski Museum etc.
>
> Because we are close to filming we are being specific in our

research

> now:
>
> I am going to Moscow and London in mid April 2008. I would like to
> meet and visit with Gulag prisoners; men, woman and children.

Anybody

> that escaped or was part of the "amnesty" etc. Do you have any

names

> or suggestions how best for me to accomplish this. Our film is

moving

> forward and we are doing location scouts in Mongolia and Siberia
> before we head to Moscow for more research at Memorial and a few
> other archive museums. The interviews will be crucial as we are
> rewriting the script after our visits etc If any one has

suggestions

> of places we should visit, other than those mentioned in the
> locations we are going to, or people that we should meet, please

feel

> free to let me know and contact names and addresses for those

places.

> For instance when we visit Tomsk, we are going to the former NKVD
> headquarters and transit camp. Is there somewhere else in that
> vicinity that we should visit? In Perm we are going to a camp that

is

> now a museum to remind the world that such atrocities should never
> happen again. Is there somewhere or someone in Perm we should visit
> too?
>
> Itinerary : Russia - Moscow - Perm - Tomsk - Irkustk - Lake Baikal -

> books and many interviews). We are interested in knowing as best as
> possible as observers, the very real torment of camp life and its
> long lasting effects on the prisoners.
>
> Film/video footage of the Gulag world - the trains, camps, Irki,
> guards, the type of work, slave labor like conditions, food,
> clothing, artifacts.
>
> We desire to meet an ex prisoner who could walk us thru a day in a
> camp.
>
> We desire to learn about escapees and maybe to meet anyone who
> escaped to learn of their experience as they journeyed out of

Russia

> to their final destination. How did they survive? What were the
> physical conditions? Who did they escape with/ How many survived
> their trek? .
>
> Photo's of Irki and their tattoos what they represented - the

stories

> they tell.(Irki or Urki are the criminal prisoners who ruthlessly
> kept order and helped run the camps for the NKVD)
>
> From our research we have created the character of a young girl (

12 -

> 13 yrs old in 1941 ) Polish etc whose parents might have come to
> join the communist dream but were thrown in the gulags; their
> daughter had to survive on her own, either in the camps or in the
> towns, A girl who might have become a street urchin to survive. We
> would like to try and meet a woman who might have had a similar
> experience.
>
> LONDON: Same goals as in Moscow but in addition...
>
> Sikorski : Henry/Richard Wieksza (escapee), Anetaa (A Forgotten
> Odyssey) and individuals:
>
> This research information: From POV of the Poles, Latvians
> Lithuanians etc. 1939-42
>
> Escapees: prior to amnesty and their treks to freedom. How they
> escaped. Their ordeal to survive: highs/lows - the deceased and
> survivors - the weather/terrain conditions, food, clothing - people
> they avoided and the ones who showed compassion. Artifacts that

were

> important. Constant danger. World was your prison.
>
> Survivors of the Gulag system. Life in a camp for non-politicos -
> exiles. Impressions of the Irki- criminal class.
>
> Specific goals: Life in the Gulag system 1940-41 - as experienced

in

> Siberia because of the extreme weather conditions - great distances
> covered and death toll just to arrive at the isolated camps.
>
> Visceral impact: The feel, smell, sounds. Photographs - personal
> stories- personal items - artifacts - wallets - notes - personal
> photos etc anything that reflects life in the Gulag.
>
> Film/video footage of the Gulag world - the trains, camps, Irki,
> guards, the type of work, slave labor like conditions, food,
> clothing, artifacts.
>
> From our research we have created the character of a young girl (

12 -

> 13 yrs old in 1941 ) possibly Polish etc whose parents might have
> come to join the communist dream but were thrown in the gulags;

their

> daughter had to survive on her own, either in the camps or in the
> towns, A girl who might have become a street urchin to survive. We
> would like to try and meet a woman who might have had a similar
> experience.
>
> I am also trying to track down four escapees who made their way

from

> Siberia to Bombay, India via Afghanistan in March 1942. I got this
> info thru Hoover and their Polish Embassy papers from India

(1942) :

> The Polish men are:
>
> Zdzislaw Piwowarski,
>
> Wladyslaw Wasik,
>
> Roman Maslowski
>
> Roman Michaluk.
>
> I am also interested in finding other stories of Gulag escapees.
> Amdrej at the Sikorski mentioned a well known story of two Poles

who

> escaped from Russia and made their way to India by train.
>
> I look forward to any and all information and/or guidance as to

where

> I might get the details. Thank you. Keith Clarke
>

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